After getting my new rims I really see the brake parts a lot more. I have an IB/W mini and I cant decide what color to paint the brakes. I was planing to use the Dupli color kit. I don't want to look like a poser pretending to have upgraded brakes. I just want them to look nicer since I can see them so much. Anyone have pics of there painted brakes? I am leaning twards the blue color. Some day I will upgrade to the big brake kit but untill then I need to do something about the stock brakes.

 

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i like em gloss black. it makes a great contrast.

 

They did have black. I didn't think much of that color because I thought I wanted the contrast. But I also dont want to have the big brake look with out the big brakes. Maybe black would be best. I didn't see silver in the Dupli color kits.

 

Any high temp spray on engine enamel will work fine...

 

What about the cleaning kit? Anything special about it?

 

What about a dirty gold color? I always thought it looked good.

 

Here is my color combo front and rear...

 

I would go with blue. My dad has it on his MINI and it looks really nice. He has a PW/B. And on my LY/B I have red calipers which also looks really nice. But as far as
the VW R32 has stock brakes with blue calipers and I'm pretty sure that that car isn't rice. It's not like your going to put a big brake logo on it. And blue would look great with your car.

 

first painting your stock calipers doesn't make you a poser.

I painted mine red but my rims are black and the car is a white/black theme so I thought they popped in red. Of course still on stock pads so the pop didn't last long .

go with the color you like. Black and red are perhaps more traditional. I've seen yellow and blue and they looked great. I think anything is better than the stock look.

 

+1



I'm a red-lover, personally. But anything's better than this:


Personally I'm a big fan of the G2 kit - very durable and slick and easy to clean...

 

I used Dupli Color on my last car... and was less than satisfied with the results.

How I painted them the next time sounds like violating every rule of Painting 101, but they turned out great.

I took a palm sander to the calipers, brought them down to bare metal, and sprayed 3-4 coats of primer. I didn't let the coats dry in between. Then sprayed 2-3 coats of Ford Red 1500 degree engine paint, without letting the coats dry in between. Then finished up with several coats of clear coat. It took probably 5 minutes per caliper to primer, paint, and clear coat (which sounds ridiculous and wrong, I know).

I could NOT believe how great the calipers looked- they had a nice wet, bright color and never chipped or bubbled. It was easy to do, just make sure everything is taped off well. Plus, I did it for under $20.

 

I have wrestled with this question in my own mind for years now... Paint the calipers, or (try to) save up for a big brake kit.

Every time I start saving for a big brake kit, I blow the money on some other mod first; one that is significantly cheaper than the more than $1,000 needed for a big brake kit.

So, I inevitably end up driving around with the stock look underneath my nice black Team Dynamics PR1's. Even worse, my calipers have years of winter salt and corrosion attacking them, so they look extra awful!

But that again leads me back to whether I should paint them...

I believe it would look poser to paint the miniscule OEM calipers with bright red or any other color. The exceptions that would be acceptable in my admittedly skewed mind, would be silver or black; those would still be stealth enough, without looking like a poser.

Red, yellow and blue would certainly be poser, (sorry BlimeyCabrio). You're calling attention to your very small calipers. Yes, they stop the car well enough for 90% of us, but they don't convey "giant-killing supercar" to me, so why put what amounts to a neon sign on them?

Just one man's (long-winded and controversial) opinion.

 

My Wilwoods are painted solid black, covering their logo, on the theory that it is less of a hot-car tip-off if you are ever stopped by an officer of the law. I like stealthy appearance for that reason.

And hey, calipers wind up covered over with that color anyway.

 

IMHO, it's much more "poseur" to have big expensive calipers on a street car-- looks like overkill to me, especially in a car weighing in at only a few hundred pounds over a ton.

 

Exactly.

By the way, I do everything possible to call attention to my tiny little car. Why shouldn't I call attention to my tiny little calipers?

Unless your MINI has other obvious signs of being a real trackrat, a BBK is just bling...

 

True. Most BBK do not improve street braking they usually increase your 60-0 times and distances. Now, on the flip side, if you are a back road carver the stock breaks will overhead way before a BBK will. But if you are going that fast you should be on a track anyway.

Stock calipers, high temp fluid, good pads & slotted rotors will do way more for a street car than any BBK will.

So paint em up!

I'm still saying that a bronze or subdued gold would look awesome with a blue car.

 

You need some power first before you buy stoptech's

 

Oh no you didn't just go there... . The power issue is in the infant stages on being handled... . That's the ONLY thing I got left to do on the car and then I can push the Mini to the side and start working on the BMW. MY JUSTACOOPER IS GONNA JUSTKICKASS. . As for all the carbrio owners who posted earlier that a BBK on the street is just bling or being a "poseur"....true the BBK INCREASES your stopping distance if the rotors/pads arent up to their rated heat range (and it takes more time to do so) but I for one had had my **** saved by them plenty of times when I know the OEM would have failed. You all are just spouting crap out of your mouth with no regards to what you are saying (which seems to be a NAM norm nowadays)...

 

I agree with 99.9% or your statement...lol

 

Huh? I put a lot of thought into what I said. And didn't even insult anyone in the process of making my point. Sounds like I hit a nerve.

Stock calipers + good ceramic pads + good fluid = no fade on multiple crazy fast mountain carving runs, as fast as anyone should drive on open public roads...

 

Umm, I hope you weren't directing this at me also. Frankly that was uncalled for.

Back on topic.

I saw a blue WRX with white calipers at Pep Boys today. It looked really nice. So I will add white to my list of suggested colors.

 

i say go with black until you upgrade to a bbk then get blue or red

 

No, not to you...Usually I would make fun of comments like that but some of the stuff people are saying is getting really old.

 

I personally like black or red. Depends on the color scheme you have. Black looks beautiful against a silver crossdrilled rotor.